Acrylic bathtubs: cons, pros and reviews

When repairing an apartment, when the turn comes to the bathroom, the question of choosing the right plumbing is acute. On the market you can find bathtubs made from a variety of materials. Each product has its own advantages and disadvantages. So which bath should you choose? Experts recommend paying attention to acrylic bathtubs. Pros and cons, reviews of happy owners and specialists indicate that today this is the most profitable purchase. But if you hurry, you can buy not what you need. Therefore, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the characteristics of acrylic products, find out their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with analogues from other materials.

What is acrylic?

This is a modern material, which in recent years has been widely used for the manufacture of sanitary ware. It is also known by the following names:

• Acrylic. This name is on everyone's lips.
• Acrylan. It's basically powdered acrylic. To get a plastic mass out of it, you need to mix it with a special chemical solution.
• Methyl methacrylate. This name is mainly used by technical specialists.
• Polymethyl methacrylate. This is the name of transparent acrylic, which becomes very plastic when heated.
• Acrylic glass. This is what people call polymethyl methacrylate.

All these names can be mentioned when it comes to the highest quality sanitary products.

There are 2 types of acrylic:

1. Industrial. It is used in the production of plastic utensils, for the manufacture of various forms in mechanical engineering, with its help, various restoration work is performed.
2. Technical. It is from this type of acrylic that it is customary to make modern acrylic products. Special additives are introduced into it, excluding the appearance of fungus and mold on the surface of products.

What are the characteristics of acrylic?

People began to make bathtubs from this material for a reason. The fact is that Acrylic has the following valuable characteristics:

These products are made in 2 ways:

• Casting.
• Layer connection.

Cast acrylic bathtubs considered to be strong and reliable. Such products are made in the following way: an acrylic blank is heated to a temperature at which this material becomes plastic, after which it is given the necessary shape under vacuum conditions using a special press. To increase the strength characteristics, several layers of fiberglass can be added to acrylic. The more of the latter, the stronger the bath. It must be understood that the addition of fiberglass layers increases the cost of the product.

Layer-by-layer production of acrylic bathtubs requires the use of special plastic. It's called ABS. It is used for the surface coating of a polymethyl methacryalate bath. Let's say right away that such products can only be bought as temporary ones. Yes, their price is low, but their performance is low. The walls of such plumbing products are too thin and cannot withstand serious physical exertion. The coating itself does not hold water.

Acrylic products coated with ABS plastic last only a few years.

Forms of acrylic baths

Some of its operational characteristics depend on the form of plumbing. modern industry produces mainly products of the following forms:

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any other plumbing product acrylic bath has its pros and cons. Their knowledge will allow you to quickly make a choice.

Advantages

Acrylic is a fairly reliable material. The average life of a product from it, according to manufacturers, is 10 years. In fact, acrylic bathtubs last much longer. If you properly care for them, they will look like new even after 20 years.

Also, acrylic products have the following advantages:

Flaws

It would be untrue to say that such baths have only pluses. They also have disadvantages.

The disadvantages include the following points:

• Acrylic is too light material, so manufacturers have to reinforce the frame to increase the stability of the product. Without reinforcement, the walls of the bathtub will begin to deform over time.
• Too much variety of models and shapes. This makes it very difficult to make a choice. However, if the buyer knows the rules for choosing sanitary ware, then it will not be difficult for him to choose the right acrylic bathtub.
• Price. A good product made of acrylic is not cheap. The cheapest bathtubs cost at least 9,000 rubles. The most expensive acrylic product will cost 40,000 rubles. A model with average characteristics costs at least 20,000 rubles.

When choosing a really high-quality acrylic bath you should rely on the following recommendations of experts:

Acrylic bathtubs

I decided to write a review due to the fact that for a long time I could not find a quality acrylic bathtub. Shopkeepers try to cheat. They offer a bath with 6 mm walls at a high price, but in reality there is only 1 mm of acrylic. Everything else is cheap plastic that falls apart very quickly. It turns out that the main disadvantage of such products is not the price at all, but the shortage of real acrylic. All stores are filled with cheap fakes.

Anyuta, Moscow

When choosing a bath, at first I wanted to buy something original in shape, but my wife dissuaded me. I warned that I would wash the original bath myself. I'm lazy, so I chose a standard rectangular acrylic bathtub. It fits perfectly in the bathroom. And the fact that it looks a little cumbersome, so it does not bother me.

Vladimir, Moscow

When it came time to choose a new bath, I chose acrylic. It doesn't need to be warmed up. Cast iron and steel counterparts require heating, while acrylic is always warm. In addition, steel and cast iron products do not hold heat well. The water in them cools down very quickly. In acrylic analogues, water retains its original temperature for a long time.

Vasily, St. Petersburg

I live in an old house on the 5th floor. There is no lift. When they were doing the renovation, the question arose of replacing the bathtub. At first I wanted a cast-iron one, but then I imagined how we were dragging it with our son to the very top together with our son and changed my mind. I chose acrylic and did not regret it. Brought it up and installed very easily.